


When You Leave a Child Astray

by fwutepawnch



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-08 09:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21473998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fwutepawnch/pseuds/fwutepawnch
Summary: After a great number of years, Nightblade, a young seeker, crash-lands on Earth and reunites with her adoptive father, Ratchet. After bringing him up to speed about her misadventures, she joins him and the others in their fight against the Decepticons. However, Nightblade has her own troubles to face. She continues her everlasting conflict with Starscream, struggles to settle her tension with Ratchet, and discover the nasty truth about herself that changes her life forever.
Kudos: 1





	When You Leave a Child Astray

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written a tf fanfic in a long time, so I forgot a lot of the common terminology that is used in fan-made stories. If you want you can comment better terms I can use for stuff in the comments below - if not, that's fine!

Chapter 1 - Reunion

“What in the pit was that?!” Starscream yelled.

The drones drilling for energon in an open desert all jumped at the sudden sound of a crash nearby. They all looked around aimlessly, asking each other if they saw anything explode. The commander growled at the commotion. 

“Shut up, all of you!” He barked with the wave of his claw. He looked around and saw smoke beginning to arise from a small ship on the horizon. Pointing at it, he ordered, “Investigate that ship! It may be an Autobot!” They all, including Starscream, rushed towards it, weapons ready. The ship was small and was dark gray with burgundy accents. The ship was pointed into the ground, its cockpit halfway through the stone, and its wings and rear pointed up at the sky. The window of the cockpit was completely shattered, and the glass shards were scattered around the sides and back of the ship. The ship itself seemed pretty worn out, as the paint was muted, some cheap metal panels were peeling off, and was covered in scratches and dents. It had no emblem on it, so Starscream and the drones weren’t immediately clear on whether or not the person on board was friendly towards them. The drones kept their distance and circled the ship, pointing their firearms at it. Starscream shoved one of them out of the way as he investigated the ship further. No one was seen from within the cockpit, so the commander slowly approached the door of the ship, which was at its side. Once he quietly stood next to the door, he waited a few seconds, before brashly shoving the sliding door towards him. Immediately, he pointed his rockets at the entrance, a bit skittish. Starscream closed his optics tightly, and gritted his dentures. His wings were pointed high. After nothing but silence, however, he opened his optics and vented in relief that no one jumped out at him. His wings lowered to a much more natural angle, and he put his arms down. “It seems that no one is in this pitiful garbage. I suppose that’s better than-”

“Commander Starscream, look out!” One of the drones yelled as they all dropped to the floor from an aerial attack.

“Wh-what-” He stuttered before grunting at the two bullets firing at his back. He yelped in pain as he fell face first onto the ground. The drones looked up and started firing at a small ship flying away from them after its attack. The ship then started turning around to make its way back to them.  
Shakily, Starscream stood up and fired his rockets at the unknown enemy.  
“Identify yourself!” He screamed. The ship quickly dodged the rockets. It didn’t reply and headed straight towards the Decepticons, lowering its body.  
“What, are you crazy?!” Questioned the commander. His optics widened at the ships voice. It was young, and eerily chuckled.

“Nope!” She responded. 

As the drones ducked once again, the unknown seeker transformed mid landing, and kicked two drones she was in between, right on their helms. They yelled in pain and their bodies flung away. The femme landed gracefully, right in front of Starscream, with her legs spread out and knees bent to keep herself steady. She had her arms held out on either of her sides, her hands in fists. She looked silly, but the technique worked for her light frame. Starscream nervously stared at her, eyeing her up and down as he felt cornered. He stood against the side of the ship.  
The drones, excluding the two who suffered major head injuries, stood up and aimed at the femme.

“Freeze!” One of them yelled. Starscream held his hand out towards said drone.

“Halt! Do not fire just yet.” He said, with suspicion in his voice. He noticed the femmes smirk and determined look in her optics. “Who are you?” He asked. Starscream looked up and down her frame. He noticed how she was completely covered in scratches, dents, and scars. More importantly though, was the fact that the emblems on her shoulders and chest plate were completely scratched out. The femme chuckled again.

“You don’t remember me, Starscream?” She responded as she straightened up. She folded her arms, and kept her feet close together. Her wings pointed high with confidence and a sense of authority. Starscream stared blankly at her, not responding. “Oh, so you REALLY don’t remember me, huh?” The femme took one step forward but stopped when she heard the shifting of the drones. She glanced over at them, and then back at Starscream. “Look, look deeply at my face. And you’ll remember.”  
Starscream had a very dumbfounded look at his voice, but then after a silent moment, gasped. “N-no! It can’t be!” He said nervously. “Nightblade?!”

“Took you long enough, ‘screamer.” Nightblade remarked. Starscream gritted his denters.

“It’s been...eons! Since we last met.”

“Yea, and I still can never forgive you-”

Everyone looked over at the sudden ground bridge that appeared nearby.  
“Are these your friends?” Starscream scowled. Nightblade hissing at his touch, he harshly shoved her away and walked towards it. She lost her balance rather easily and had to get steady again. Nightblade didn’t answer, as she was confused herself. She stared at the swirling green portal. She had always read about them, but never saw one in person until now.  
Two others appeared from it, one small, thin, and blue, and the other tall, round, and green. They had their weapons ready at the immediate sight of the commander and the drones. Starscream cursed through his denters.  
“Scrap. I don’t have time for this…” He leaped forward and transformed, flying away. The drones followed after him. 

Nightblade watched as they retreated, and sighed. “Cowards…” She said out loud.

The smaller bot, Arcee, and her large companion, Bulkhead, focused on her. Arcee aimed at the unknown figure. “And you are…?” She questioned  
.  
Nightblade raised her hands over her helm. “Nightblade. If you guys think I’m one of them, I’m not...I literally hate Starscream.” That last detail she muttered low to herself.

The two bots glanced at each other and disengaged their weapons, but still kept their distance. Nightblade noticed their Autobot emblems.  
“You guys are...Autobots right?” Nightblade quietly asked. She then looked away shyly. “Do you guys know of...Ratchet?”

Both Bulkhead and Arcee were surprised at such a question. “Yeah”, Bulkhead responded. “And what do you want with him?”

“Let’s just say...I haven’t seen him in a long time.” Nightblade answered, with a small and awkward smile. He commed Ratchet about this, and once he did, Ratchet’s optics widened as far as they could as he heard the news.  
"Bring her in, immediately!" He said, his voice high in shock, anxiety, hope, and relief. The sudden and overwhelming feelings that took over the old medics spark almost made him feel dizzy. 

His digits hastily danced around the computer as he re-summoned the ground bridge for their return. And once he was finished, Ratchet anxiously stood and stared at the portal. 

"Cmon cmon cmon.." He muttered between his dentures. His optics focused intensely on the entrance, and he impatiently tapped his digits on his outer thigh. His mouth slightly opened, and his spark skipped a beat out of anticipation when he saw Arcee and Bulkhead calmly walking into the base from the bridge. However, Ratchets optics never once paid any attention to them. They were still focused on the portal.

"Nightblade…" He whispered to himself. Arcee and Bulkhead were confused at the sight of Ratchet. His jittery and impatient behavior were definitely out of character for the normally calm and collected mech. 

Nightblade, although hesitant, finally entered the portal and observed its magical and mysterious being. She studied its green colors swish around her. Curiously, Nightblade simply stood in the middle of it, staring at the swirls and the white glow at the end of the tunnel. 

"For Primus sake, what's taking her so long?!" Ratchet barked. He rushed towards the ground bridge, but halted as he finally saw her step out of it.  
"Nightblade!" He cheered. He resumed his sprint and greeted his beloved daughter with a tight hug. Before she could react, Ratchet picker her up from the ground and held her in the embrace. Her legs and wings waved around in the air as he turned his body left and right. 

"F-father?!" She squeaked. The seeker felt tears forming in her optics and closed them tightly. She hugged him back and dug her face into his shoulder.

The others in the room were simply shocked.

"Ratchet has a kid…?" Bulkhead whispered in awe. Both him and Acree had wide optics and open jaws. They were astonished as they never imagined Ratchet being the type to have an offspring. 

"Nightblade, Nightblade…where did you go for so long?" Ratchet quietly asked her, holding back his cries. She hesitated to respond….  
Where…and how, could she even begin?

"I…uh…" She muttered.

The sudden sound of footsteps alerted everyone in the base. Although still holding onto Nightblade, Ratchet raised his face and looked at the driveway entrance. Bulkhead and Arcee were snapped out of their minds and focused on the two bots returning home. Optimus and Bumblebee walked into the base from scouting suspicious activity.

Bumblebee curiously whirred, "who's that?", as he stood next to the Prime.  
The old medic sighed. Ratchet realized that he was still hugging Nightblade, and generously let her go. 

"Is that...?" Optimus quietly questioned. Although he was almost certain, the femme was completely covered in all sorts of scratches and dents. It was hard for him to tell, especially since a lot of her paint was scraped off. Ratchet cleared his throat. 

"Yes, Optimus, this is Nightblade...Bumblebee. She’s my daughter" Not even a second after Ratchet finished his sentence, Bumblebee let out a loud, and very confused whirr from his damaged vocal cords. Ratchet slowly glanced at him in annoyance before looking back at the Prime. "Optimus, I'm pretty sure you remember her." Optimus smiled and offered a rather formal handshake to the young seeker.

"It's nice seeing you after so long, Nightblade," Optimus said calmly.  
Quickly, Nightblade looked up at him before looked back at the floor. She smiled, although it was shaky, and remained silent. Her wings slowly lowered, and quickly her smile melted into an uneven frown. She closed her optics, and ran towards the back of the base. 

"I'm sorry, father!" She croaked as she ran away into the single hallway of the base. 

"Nightblade, wait-" Ratchet called out, and reached an arm out for her. He was about to run after her, but Optimus used his open hand to place on his shoulder.

The seeker had no idea where she was going, but wherever it is sure as hell was better than being near her adoptive father or anyone else. She found an open room, one that is used for sparring, and sat in the farthest corner. She hugged her knees close to her chest, and cried. 

If Ratchet was in high spirits, he'd go against Optimus' silent suggestion and run towards his daughter. But as a father, he felt hopeless. Again, his spark was pained with regret, guilt, and even self loathe. He should've never let Nightblade run away in the first place. He should've went after her, and taken her back to Cybertron. 

"Ratchet, Nightblade is overwhelmed right now. After all these years, don't you think she, too, feels burning guilt and sadness?" The Prime calmly said.  
Ratchet stared blankly at the ground as tears fell from his face.  
"I…suppose you're right…." He whispered. This was the first time the younger Autobots saw the old medic cry. It felt unreal.

After about a minute or so in silence, besides the awkward crying and howling from Nightblade a few doors down, Arcee spoke. "Sorry to interrupt…but care to explain what happened?" 

Ratchet blinked and slowly walked over to the med bay, almost dragging his feet against the metal floor. He sat down on a medical bed and stared at the wall.

"…Many, many years ago, I adopted Nightblade after finding her in a very unfortunate situation. I was traveling in Kaon to study native bacteria that were believed to cause some sort of sickness at the time…"

___________________________________

Tasked by fellow medics, Ratchet arrived at a scrapyard to find out the source of a sickening bacteria that caused a number of their patients to be sick. He looked over at the landscape, seeing that for miles it was nothing but huge piles of scrap metal, broken tools or weapons, and other miscellaneous items, all covered in rust. He vented, a bit annoyed that he had to go into such a disgusting place, but he remembered that it is his passion to tend to the ill. Ratchet took one step into the scrapyard and slowly walked over the uneven hills of mess. He flinched, almost causing him to fall and losing his balance, at the sudden sound of crying. Once he was steady once more, he looked behind him, in disbelief.

"A sparkling?…impossible.." He muttered. Seeing no living thing behind him, he faced forward and kept going slowly, but noticed that the crying got louder as he unknowingly got closer to the source. Ratchet's optics caught sight of scrap-metal sliding down a small hill, and his mouth opened in shock. Beneath it, he saw a singular glowing optic, as well as a small blue hand trying to make its way from under the trash. Quickly, Ratchet stumbled over to the sparkling and uncovered her from the pile. He held her up in arms, looking at her. 

Nightblade was rather small for a sparkling her age. She had a brilliant blue and white finish, but the paint's natural glow was dimmed by the dirt and rust that took over her body, but in some spots, it shone through. Her wings were disproportionately big, which were normal for seeker sparklings, and they hung down below her feet. Once she looked at Ratchet and saw his face, she stopped crying. Instead, she started giggling and her small hands reached towards him. Ratchet pulled her closer, in awe, hugging her.

"Primus…what happened to this child…?" He whispered. He canceled his mission and commed his fellow medics. Ratchet took her back to their facility and took great care of her. They discovered an alarming amount of rust had gotten into her system, which was flushed out via surgery. The medics concluded that while its effects aren't life-threatening, Nightblade would have difficulty with weakness, and would be rather fragile.

______________________

"…as you all have probably guessed, I never once thought of having my own sparkling, let alone adopting one. But Nightblade had grown attached to me, and would always cry when she wasn’t with or near me after a while. I felt obligated, yes, but through that, I discovered that I truly love her. I was…devastated when she left Cybertron without my knowledge that day. I watched her grow and mature, only for the war to snatch her out of my grasp. Ever since then, I was always uncertain if she was…alive." Ratchet started to speak quietly. He paused for a moment before venting. "I'm just. Relieved. That she's alive and well. And I'm... astonished that she survived all this time despite her weakness."

Everyone in the room felt sorrow and sympathy for Ratchet now since they understood. Optimus knew of the situation though, as he was there since the very beginning, and even took care of Nightblade from time to time. 

“Ratchet”, Optimus said, “I’ll talk to Nightblade. You may come with me if you wish, but I believe there is tension between you two that must be settled first.” The Prime waited for a response from Ratchet, but seeing that his friend was still in grave emotional pain, he left the main room and looked for the young seeker.

Slowly, Optimus walked into the room Nightblade was hiding in. She rubbed her face, and looked up at him from the corner she was still sitting at. She gave a small smile, to which Optimus returned. 

“Nightblade, I understand that you must feel tense around Ratchet, and perhaps even I as well.” He said, as he crouched in front of her. “But you must remember that neither Ratchet or I am not inherently upset at you for what you did. We understand that you did not want to be involved with the conflict back on Cybertron. We are more than relieved to see that you are with us, safe.”  
Nightblade sighed and nervously laughed. “Yeah...you’re right.” The femme reached over and gave him a hug. “I missed you guys.” Optimus hugged her back and closed his optics.

“I miss you too, Nightblade. Ratchet does as well.”

They stopped hugging and both stood. The Prime backed up to give the small seeker some breathing space. He studied her and studied the damaged endured by her frame.

“Once Ratchet is ready, he will repair you...and perhaps that will be the perfect opportunity for you to tell your side of the story to us.”

Nightblade gritted her uneven, crooked dentures at the idea. A lot has happened while she traveled space, all while being rather young and initially inexperienced in...everything, really. How would Ratchet react to such a story?


End file.
